Surfin’ USA

World Cup party in Berlin

Last weekend I went on a short journey to Berlin, visiting my Australian mate Andreas, who I studied with in Sweden. He’s currently living in Berlin, learning the language and maybe even trying find a job, so I could stay at his place, which he shares with his girlfriend Renata from Brazil.

I arrived late Friday afternoon, just in time for Germany-Argentina quarter final match. Of course we went to watch it at the main Berlin fan mile with roughly 700,000 other fans. And quite a spectacle it was — I’m not sure if I ever saw that many people in one place before! As you can imagine, the atmosphere was just awesome, with everyone singing and cheering their hearts out — wow! And after our team decided the match in its favor in the penalty shootout, it became pure madness everywhere — the whole city of Berlin seemed to have gone mad! What a night…

We also watched the other matches on this weekend at different locations, and unfortunately for Renata her team was kicked out by France. But she conceded that the Brazilians played well below their potential and that the French were just better that night. (Sadly also Germany meanwhile lost its semifinal to Italy, after a very intense and close match, and will now compete for the 3rd place. Even though the last-minute defeat was terribly painful and made all German supporters awfully sad, everyone in Germany is still very proud of what the team accomplished!)

When we did not watch football, I did some sightseeing, hitting some of the major touristic locations (see pics below). On Sunday afternoon, eventually, I flew back. It was a superb weekend, thanks again to my hosts Renata and Andreas. You’ll be welcome at my place at any time!